Mega Man Cross
Chapter 4
"Enter Marcy"
By MEGAMANX411

X, Zero, Kid, and Niki entered the rather large estate, and were in complete awe of its sheer size. The building was positively monolithic..it must have had enough rooms to house an entire village. Not to mention how fancy everything appeared. Gold adorned many of the objects thoroughout the building, whether they be lamps or picture frames, and there were some pretty lush paintings located throughout the place.

"Oi..this place is like a goldmine.." Kid observed, notably impressed with the possible bounty before her. "And we can probably find the sacred treasure, the Frozen Flame here too."

"Don't get any ideas. We're not thieves," Zero replied bluntly.

Zero easily picked up on Kid's sentiment, and one thing he particularly didn't care for was burglarly. Common thieves, in his opinion, were filth. X, on the other hand, was rather curious about the Frozen Flame. He had heard of it, at least in his dreams. He felt as though finding it might provide some clues as how he could get back home, or at least he hoped.

"Oi! I'm just sayin'.." Kid muttered, still in awe of how fancy everything appeared.

X, on the other hand, was more preoccupied with why there were no guards or no other means of security. Sure, they had encountered Zoah by the "supposed secret" entrance, but if they knew they were coming, why didn't they set up any other means of security? X knew that if Zoah was there, they must have known about the entrance all along..meaning that the information was either not intended to be secret, or leaked in the first place.

But even if they intended for Zoah to meet them there...why didn't they take any other steps? X didn't like the looks of this one bit. Not at all.

"Hey guys..I think it's best we stay on our toes.." X muttered, gesturing for the others to get behind him.

Zero caught on to X's idea, and nodded his head in confirmation.

"Something about this doesn't seem right.." Zero added.

"Let's keep going..but just be careful," X replied.

X slowly walked forward, making sure that his boots didn't make lots of noise when they hit the floor. He cringed whenever he heard something that could be called too loud, and wanted to make sure that any negative confrontations could be avoided.

"Hey Kid.." Zero began, his voice as soft as a whisper.

"Yeah?" Kid replied, keeping her voice equally soft.

"Who do we ask for the information we want anyway?" Zero asked.

"General Viper, the leader of the Dragoons. If the Dragoons are after you, then that means he must have issued the order," Kid replied.

"But how do you know all this?" X asked.

"You come into a lot of information just by going by rumors and stuff," Kid replied.

"Eh..well, there's not much use worrying about it now," Zero replied.

X didn't like the looks of things. He scouted ahead to see if there was anyone approaching. There were some guards..and ironically enough, that made him feel somewhat relieved.

"Ah..good.." X muttered.

"What is it?" Zero asked, placing a hand on X's shoulder.

X eyed the guard's uniforms. If they could manage to knock the guards out and swipe their clothes, they could slip in and out of almost anywhere without being detected. Sure, they'd have to reveal themselves when they reached General Viper, but this way would by far more peaceful. Futhermore, X reasoned that he could negotiate peacefully with General Viper anyway. Or at least he hoped.

"Ok..I have a plan," X whispered.

X gestured for everyone to get in closer to him. He quietly orchestrated his plan out for Zero, Kid, and Niki. When they heard it, they all nodded in confirmation.

"Got it?" X asked.

"Yeah..let's go.." Zero replied, keepinga firm grip on his saber.

Niki and Zero slowly crept up on the guards from behind. Meanwhile, X and Kid quickly dashed in front of them to attract their attention.

"Who're you?!" the first guard shouted, pointing his rife at X.

X smirked, and pointed behind the guard.

"What are you pointing at?" the second guard asked, keeping his rifle steady as well.

"This," Zero answered.

Zero and Niki then bashed the guards over the head, using their respective weapons. Zero used thehandle of his saber to make sure no excessive damage was inflicted. Niki, on the other hand, bashed his guitar over the other guards head. When the other two guards turned around to face Niki and Zero, X and Kid took the opportunity to knock them out.

When the guards hit the floor dazed, X slowly began to remove their uniforms.

"Good work, now, let's get these clothes on," X whispered.

X handed uniforms to Zero, Niki, and Kid. After they put them on, they realzied that they were a pretty good fit, save for Kid..her uniform was a bit on the big side.

"Ya don't think' this'll look suspicious?" Kid asked.

"Nah, it'll be ok," Zero replied.

"Come on.We should be able to investigate easier this way. Let's head upstairs," X offered.

When they got upstairs, they saw three ways to go.

"Hmm..which way now, X?" Niki asked.

"I'm not sure..we don't really have much way of knowing. And asking for directions might be a little suspicious, considering that we're supposed to be like guards," X replied.

"Yeah...split up?" Zero offered.

"I don't know if it's a good idea for us to get separated. Let's just try one of the doors..if it's the wrong one, it won't really matter. We'll just say we're on patrol or something," X answered.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea...let's just start with left-side door," Zero offered.

With that, X, Zero, Niki, and Kid entered the room to the left, and came into a rather expansive library. There appeared to be an almost endless supply of books everywhere, and what's more, there were multiple floors of books. X also noticed that there was a little girl reploid there with an old man.

The little girl had blonde hair in pig tails, and had white armor designed to almost look like a dress. She had deep blue eyes, and rather soft features. Overall, she was rather small in stature, being a little shorter than Kid.

"So, like...what are you doin' here!? Dragoons aren't allowed up here, you know?" the girl asked, looking rather innocent.

Kid, having logic equivalent to a child obviously, reasoned that there wouldn't be much harm in revealing themselves to such an innocent looking child.

"We're not really Dragoons," Kid replied bluntly.

"Kid!" Zero muttered harshly.

The girl frowned and gave them a rathercurious look.

"What are you talkin' about?" the girl asked.

With that Kid removed her costume. Knowing that their cover was pretty much blown anyway, X, Zero, and Niki follwed suit. The girl looked rather unimpressed.

"So, like...what's your point?" the girl asked.

The old man, who was apparently reading some books on one of the upper levels, descended via elevator. He had taken notice of the girl's conversation, and was particularly interested.

"What is it, Marcy? Is someone there?" the old man asked.

The little girl, who the group now knew as Marcy, shrugged her shoulders.

"Just some weirdos," Marcy replied.

The old man looked rather interested at this turn of events, and then pressed another button. His elevator descended a bit further and he was brought to ground level with the others. He slowly and casually walkedup to X and the others.

"If you did not know you were not allowed in here...then you must not be one of our dragoons. Oh my...you must be...yes, yes...you must be X," the old man observed.

Marcy still looked rather unimpressed by this turn of events, andseemed to be rather impatient. She crossed her arms defiantly, and rolled her eyes.

"Like, can I kill 'em yet?" she asked.

X's eyes widened at her comment, and wondered just how exactly such an innocent looking child could say such a hideously evil thing. He got a pain in the pit of his stomach just thinking about it. Zero, on the other hand, was somewhat impressed by her spunk, but disapproved of her attitude. Kid didn't really like the look of things, and Niki was rather indifferent on the whole matter.

Of course, Niki's personality always made him seem indifferent. Meanwhile, the old man gave Marcy a rather annoyed expression.

"Patience child, patience! I need to have a word with these people..." the old man muttered.

Kid was also looking rather annoyed and impatient. Of course, she was rather curious as to how this old man knew X and just what his business was with him.

"Who are ya? And how do you know X?" Kid asked, sounding arrogant as usual.

The old man rubbed his chin, and then slowly closed his eyes. He bobbed his head as he thought for a minute.

"Hmmm...how do I explain...? I guess you could say I am the prophet of time. Listen carefully. The world is not just a single entity. Another world similar to ours exists in another dimension. There you will find what you might have become, a world of possibilities that might have existed, a whole history that has not been written yet...it is out there somewhere...we are simply unable to
see, feel, or experience it," the old man replied.

X stared at the old man in pure disbelief. He didn't know whether or not he was just crazy, or maybe he himself was in a crazy world.

"You're out of your mind!" Zero shouted, finishing X's thought.

Zero was just a big a part of this as X was, or at least he assumed so. And furthermore, he was X's friend. He didn't want to see him getting messed with, especially when it came to matters like this.

"Please, let me finish. There was a point in your life when you soul, your very existence was in imminent danger. You had a fifty-fifty chance of life and death. That was when your future was split in twain. In your home world, you survived to live a happy and prosperous life. That is how you made it to the present point in time. However, here in this "alternate" world, you are, in fact, very dead and buried. You died years ago, but this world's time line has flowed on regardless. You have no place in this world...here, you are but a ghost brought back from the past! I do not know what happened to you years ago...nor can I guess what triggered your entrance into this world. The locations where such divisions in the time-space continua occur are called, "ANGELUS ERRARE" - "Where Angels Lose Their Way." It is said that, there, the borders of two dimensions fluctuate in such a way as to make the passage between the parallel realities a possibility. Perhaps in this world, you are the missing piece from a giant puzzle. And maybe, just maybe...the vacuum created by your non-existence here has drawn you across the border between the dimensions to fill the void in that puzzle. Of course, no one can say for sure. However, it appearss though these two worlds are connected by some unknown orce. Depending on the location, the two worlds influence each other in strange ways. I am quite certain there is a wormhole that connects thetwo parallel worlds..." the old man muttered.

Kid was looking rather furious herself. She either didn't want to believe this old man, or did believe him and was infuriated because of it.

"If what you say is true, and this world is an alternate reality...then why the bloody hell did X die...? The reason has to be somethin' that happened to him years ago!" Kid shouted.

The old man, who was essentially a self-proclaimed "prophet", shook his head.

"The only way for you to find out is to keep moving," the old man replied.

Marcy was becoming rather annoyed herself. She stomped her feet angrily, and pointed a finger at X and company.

"No way! I'm not going to let you leave!" she shouted.

Kid shrugged her shoulders.

"We don't have time to play with you, brat," Kid replied.

The prophet smirked and chuckled a little.

"What's so funny?" X asked.

"I would advise you not to take Marcia lightly. She is one of the four Devas, the highest ranking members of the Acacia Dragoons," he replied.

"This brat?!" Zero shouted, his eyes widening from disbelief.

Zero had never seen so many child warriors left and right. He didn't know whether to think this dimension had awful parenting skills or it conisted purely of kids in the first place.

"You are a high-ranking warrior? This place must have pretty low standards.." Zero muttered, keeping a loose grip on his saber.

"Shut up you girlie-looking blonde boy!" Marcey replied. "I'm gonna beat you silly! Get ready!"

"Hmph..let's get this over with.." Zero muttered.

With surprising strength and speed, Marcy rushed up and punched Kid in the stomach. She was caught completely off guard, and then bent over clutching her stomach. Zero took a swing at Marcy withhis fist, but she nimbly dodged it, and then did a dropkick at Niki.

Niki struggled to get back up after the little girl's surprisingly powerful attack. Zero, seeing that they were actually getting beat up by a little brat, was a little ticked off. So, he rushed up, and tried thrusting his saber at her. However, his attack suddenly stopped. Zero's attack was halted in mid-stride, and he couldn't seem to move.

But there wasn't anything holding him down. He wasn't restricted in any way..he couldn't figure it out.

"Agh..what is this?" Zero shouted.

Zero then noticed that he was covered in strings. He was being held captive by strings.

"You like it? I call it the Cat's Cradle!" Marcy replied, giggling.

Marcy then tried to manipulate Zero's movements like a puppet, but her attempts were cut short by an ear-splitting noise. It was Niki! Marcy kept a loose grip on the strings, but just tightly enough so Zero was still bound. But she could no longer manipulate him, because she seemed to be stunned temporarily.

While Marcy was dazed, Kid took the opportunity to cut a few of the strings that bound Zero. However, when Marcy regained her composure, she started to strengthen her hold.

"Tsk, tsk! I don't think so!" she shouted.

"That's quite enough," X muttered.

WhileMarcy was distracted by everything else, X took the time to get behind her. She hadn't noticed at all, and was now completely open to his attack. However, instead of using his buster to finish her, he merely smacked upside her head, knocking her out cold. She hit the ground fast, and was out like a light.

Zero, in the meantime, was still struggling to get those cursed strings off of him. He tore his way out, and then dusted himself off in disgust before muttering a few choice curse words. Being manipulated by a child was not something he was particularly fond of.

"Well, where to now dudes?" Niki asked, rubbing the back of his head.

X shrugged. The old man had apparently left, so he might have informed someone that they were there...but they only person that they knew was aware of their presence was now knocked out cold.

"Should we get back into the uniforms?" X asked.

"Ah, save it. I'm betting the old geezer probably ruined our little espionage, and besides, I prefer straight fighting to all this sneaking around," Zero replied.

"Well...let's just keep going. If the old man wasn't willing to fight against us, maybe that means General Viper isn't either. The only ones who did were the Dragoons, but they may have simply acted up," X reasoned.

"Eh..whatever the case, let's go," Zero replied.